'supporting each other through really tough times'

Cheapskate

Afternoon all

Fuddle - so glad you've got what you were entitled to, especially the extra! :j The beans? Chuck 'em in a stew, add to pasta sauce, add some chilli and soya mince for a quick chilli sauce, add to soup...the possibilities are endless! I do this will all sorts of rogue tins of pulses.

Glad to hear monnagran is having a high old time, too!

A xo

Mrs_Chip

Evening everyone, I hope no-one has been blown away! It was a bit hairy here this morning, but the wind has dropped a bit and the sun has come out now.

Kidcat - hope everything is OK re the redundancy, a worrying time all round.

Glad you finally got your pay Fuddle, I would have been spitting feathers!

I have not rented for years, I can't believe the cheek of some LLs and HAs - it's one thing to make sure the property is being looked after, but to be so intrusive as to comment on things that frankly are none of their business is astonishing!

Beans - I made these last week and they were delicious, I'm sure you could use cannellini instead. I sometimes serve them as a side vegetable - saute off with a bit of bacon and a few herbs, yummy.

We are off to Cornwall for a week tomorrow, so you can blame the poor weather on me - expect tempests and plagues of locusts too!

[Deleted User]

Canellini beans can go in soup, in a chilli instead of red kidney beans, can go in a stew and you can make them into a Hummus by uising them instead of chick peas, it's lovely or you can even add them to a tomato pasta sauce, that's nice too, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Popperwell

Thanks for the extra ideas/advice. Will see the Dr tomorrow. Go out as planned on Saturday to the Food Festival to cheer myself up. Almost tidy now.

That's why I think they over reacted. May phone them direct myself to say its all done and would've been if they hadn't called. Or snooped around the place. As it was taken on a mobile phone it could be added to my files digitally, how would I ever know its been deleted?

They don't know it but as I had started the clearout anyhow I am throwing even more away. That is stuff that was tidy.

Still eating well, tried yogurt and cereal today and enjoyed it. Going to have some chicken pie with creamy sauce and ham, asparagus and leeks...and bread and butter pudding with custard.

I hope Mrs Chip's holiday is good. And Monnagran is relaxed:)
Found a little bit of paint has chipped off the cooker, going to put some radiator enamal paint on it to protect it.

GreyQueen

fuddle wrote: »

Pops for your sanity, especially as you feel like this, I think you do have to do something.

Does anyone know if pops can request his records with the HA, I don't know, maybe the freedom of information act or something?
.

Hi fuddle, Pops could choose to contact his HA and make a "data subject access request" under the Data Protection Act 1998. This would mean that they would be legally obliged to give him copies of all the records they hold, within a fairly short time. They're allowed to charge a (small) fee, think in the region of £10.

The Freedom of Information Act is for private citizens to get collective data from public bodies, so you'd use that if you wanted to know how much your council spent on stationery, but the DPA is for your personal data. There should be a person in the HA tasked with processing the DPA requests, if he'd choose to go that route.

I admit I was pretty scandalised about Pop's experience, particularly the reading of a personal letter. Even if it was sitting in plain view, it was not for them to nosey-parker in unless he'd asked them to read it.

I work for a council who owns their own stock. Our housing officers don't normally visit a person's home unless they've been asked to by the resident, or there are serious issues arising from the behaviour of the residents/ condition of the home which are impacting on the neighbourhood.

Sometimes, our workmen go in to do a job and come out again pdq saying that they cannot work there. At that point, the housing officer will arrange to visit to find out what is causing the problem. It could be that the home is extremely insanitary, it could be that it is hoarded in such a way as whatever the workmen need to access cannot be accessed.

The housing officers go in person so that they can see for themselves, rather than just take a secondhand report of filth (or whatever) and so they can be very specific when they ask the resident to rectify something so that repairs can go ahead and they'd rather talk to people face to face as they feel it is less hostile than writing or phoning.

Sometimes, the resident has a serious need of support services which they can be helped to access. Sometimes, there is no physical or mental impairment or depression; some people are just very very mucky puppies.:(

I've never heard of a housing officer poking around like that or passing comments about books. I guess if they were stacked in teetering piles all the way to the ceiling in all rooms, a la the famous hoarder Richard, they might feel obliged to say something regarding fire risk but a modest amount of books in a bedroom? Blinking cheek.

I'd complain like crazy if it was me, but Pops must do whatever he sees fit.

Been at work and pootling around at home with my pile of library books. Gosh, but how I love the Central Library, let me count the ways. It almost makes up for forking over just shy of one month's income each year in council tax.

I did say almost...............

I went charity shopping after work and spent a whole fine English poond on a patchwork table runner and a new top. They've been washed already and are drying on the rack. That's part of my family party ensemble sorted out, I reckon, although I will have to do a dummy run when everything is dry to make sure it all fits and doesn't look too daft.


:T Delighted to hear of fuddle's pay coming though and that monnagran is enjoying her hols. More power to you both.

Alrighty, going to wander the web for a bit then go back to the library books. Have lots, all very different. Lawd knows what anyone would make of trying to judge my personality by my reading list; probably file me under S for Straaaange.

Laters, GQ xx

VJsmum

GreyQueen wrote: »

Alrighty, going to wander the web for a bit then go back to the library books. Have lots, all very different. Lawd knows what anyone would make of trying to judge my personality by my reading list; probably file me under S for Straaaange.

Laters, GQ xx

I know what you mean - I am currently reading the Hunger Games (children's book), "How Green are my Wellies" about eco living, a Rosamund Pilcher something or another (trashy novel) and a Jane Austen (on the kindle - mode of reading not name of book!) and, yes, I am reading them all at the moment. On top of that I have to read magazines of my industry for work (tho I am about 2 months behind).

The Mediterranean Veg casserole was deliiiiiishhhhhhh

Here's the link if anyone is interested
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1993645/vegetarian-casserole

I pretty much did it as is, except I used a chilli olive oil and added some olives.

I had it with some hand made bread. Can I ask a question? What do hand bread makers use to shape their loaves? My 2lb loaf tins seem too small and when I just put the loaves on a sheet they are fairly flat - probably only about 2" thick but very spread out. They taste nice but they're not very sliceable.

GreyQueen

I wouldn't worry about the 2lb loaf tins looking a bit small. I use this size and when I put the unrisen dough into them, it stops short of the edges on all four sides and is well below the rim, as is below half. The proving raises it to bulge above the top.

Ooo-eerr missus, that sounds a bit saucy.

I've also braided bread and left it to prove and bake on a flat sheet and often make rolls as they cook quicker and it's a bit more energy-efficient.

Unless you've very invested in having your bread turn out a particular shape, just play around and let your whimsy run riot.

My reading list at the moment is; Orchids on your budget (1937), The Lewis Man - a thriller set in the Outer Hebrides (if you haven't been, go, it's awesome. Midge-ridden but stunning), several books on surviving catastrophes, some books on futurology, a Sherrilyn Kenyon urban fantasy and a maths book. I am also reading The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England, the sequel to the one on Medieval England.

Excellent stuff. And reading it makes you very glad indeed not to be living it.............:rotfl:

Byatt

If I understand correctly from what was written, the visit by these 2 men from the "council" was unexpected?

Are you sure they were legitimate?

kidcat

Byatt - I thought I remembered Pops was preparing for their visit from the week before, but I think it still sounds "dodgy"

we have no news - OH was told he would know today, but by this afternoon they were saying it would be next shift - so not before Tues.

Its all very nerve wracking

Byatt

Kidcat, so sorry you are being kept hanging regarding OH's job, I know how stressful that is, as similar happened once with ex's job. Not knowing is the worst and they are very cruel to treat people in such a way.

Yes, it does sound a dodgy visit, if the representatives of the HA are legit then it's possible someone has said something to them.